Folding couch



Jan. 31, 1933. A. CRONENBERG FOLDING COUCH Original Filed May 6, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet In l en Z 071 466e, Crone/16c Jan. 31, 1933 A, CRQNENBERG1,895,541

FOLDING COUCH Original Filed May 6, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan.31, 1933 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFECE ABBEY ORONENBERG, OF TORONTO,ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO NATHAN PHILLIPS, OF TORONTO,ONTARIO, CANADA FOLDING COUCH Application filed May 6, 1931, Serial N0.535,418. Renewed December 14, 1932.

The principal objects of this invention are, to provide a couch orlounge which will be extremely comfortable and which will be readilyconvertable into a double bed, afford- 5 ing ample sleepingaccommodation, but which when in couch form will occupy the minimumamount of space.

A further object is to devise a form of structure which may bemanufactured at extremely low cost but will be strong and durable andwill be very easily operated in opening it out to the bed form orfolding it back to the couch form.

A further object is to provide a frame structure which will while beingutilized as a couch afford storage accommodation for the necessarybedding being concealed in a position clear of the floor so that thecouch may be readily moved about and will permit sweep- 0 ing or dustingunderneath the same.

The principal features of the invention consist in the novelconstruction and arrangement of a pair of frame sections hinged togetherand supported upon rigid end members and adapted to be folded onebeneath the other and to be swung outwardly providing a bed structurefree from interference of longitudinal supports in its width.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 0 is a perspective view of myimproved couch frame showing it in the folded position.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view, of the structure in the positionshown in Figure 1.

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view showing the bed frame sectionsreversed from the position shown in Figure 2.

Figure at is a cross sectional view showing the parts in the reverseposition as in Figure 3 with the upper member raised to uncover thebedding contained in the storage holder.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view showing the frames being swung intothe open posi tion.

Figure 6 is a cross sectional View showing the frames in the openposition presenting a double bed structure.

Numerous forms of metal bed frames have been made to provide comfortablebed structures, but most of these are found to be too complicated toenable their being produced at sufficiently low cost to meet a populardemand and many of the structures are of such a nature that they easilyget out of order and will not fold and unfold properly. F urther, manyothers do not provide a proper accommodation for the storage of bedding.

In the structure herein shown the end frames 1 are formed of lengths ofangle iron bent into an inverted U shape and form the of angle steel issecured to the top bar of each of the end frames centrally thereof and abolt 6 extends through said bracket and the flange of the top bar 7 ofthe end frame and these form pivot supports at each end of the frame forthe couch frame.

The upper couch frame is formed of a pair of angle bars 8 which arepivoted midway of their length upon the bolts 6 and are connected at oneend by a longitudinal angle bar 9.

An angle bar 10 having right angularly bent ends 11 has said endsrigidly secured to the vertical flanges of the end bars 8 ad jacent tothe ends opposite those to which the bars 9 are secured.

It will be seen that the longitudinal portion of the bar 10 is ofisetdownwardly from the horizontal end bars 8. This provision is made sothat the spring 12 may flex along the front edge of the couch withoutthe person sitting upon the couch being inconvenienced by the pressureof a rigid edge against the underside of the limbs, and also such offsetarrangement provides that there is no rigid longitudinal member adjacentto the central part of the spring when the bed is extended.

A pair of flat bars 13 are secured one to each end of the bars 8 andagainst the offset ends 11 of the bar 10 and each of the said bars 13 isprovided with an offset lug end 14.

An angle bar 15 of corresponding shape to the bar 10 has the rightangularly turned ends 16 thereof pivotally mounted in the lug ends 14 ofthe bars 13 and the extremities of the ends 16 are rigidly secured tothe angle bar ends 17 of the lower frame 18 which is a clupli cation ofthe upper frame mounted on the pivot bolts 6.

An offset latch arm 19 is pivotally secured to the longitudinal bar 9midway of its length and it hooks over a pin mounted on the longitudinalbar 20 of the lower frame.

It will be readily seen that the two frames are thus rigidly connectedtogether and that they will swing together on the pivot bolts 6.

The upper longitudinal bar 9 is provid d with extension end lugs 21which project under and engage the underside of the top bars 7 of theend frames 1 and thus hold the spring frames from rotating through theap plication of a load forward of the pivot bolts and these lugs furtherco-operate to arrest the pivotal frame section in its inverted position,Figure 4, to which position it is initially swung as a unit with theother frame section. Thus when the section having the end members 18 isuniocked from the pivotal section and swung open, the stop lugs 21 servea very important function in temporarily supporting the unbalancingweight of the upwardly and outwardly swung section.

A pair of locking dogs 22 are pivotally mounted on the top bars 7 at theforward edge to engage the top sides of the ends bars of the swingingframe to prevent the tilting of the moveable frame when a load isshifted back of the pivots and these locking dogs co-operate with thestop lugs 21 to definitely support the pivotal frame section in itsnormal position preventing its rotation in either direction.

End panels 23 and a longitudinal panel at are secured to the ends andlongitudinal back bar of the pivotal upper frame, and with the bottomspring frame and upper spring form an enclosure in which the bedding tobe used upon the bed when in its extended position may be housed.

This receptacle is shown in the open position in Figure 4 where theframe has been turned over and the bottom frame is thrown back from thereceptacle to allow of the removal of the bedding therefrom. When thebedding has thus been removed the two sections of the frame are swungupwardly to a position as shown in Figure 5 and carried over until thespring of the under frame is in horizontal alignment with the spring ofthe upper frame as shown in Figure 6. The outer edge of the extendedframe formed by the longitudinal bar 20 is supported by the pivotal leg25 which legs are adapted to be swung into parallel relation with thelongitudinal bar 20 when the frames are folded together. I

A very rigid bed frame is thus provided which will accommodate twopersons with comfort.

It will be seen that both of the inside longitudinal bars with theoffset ends form longitudinal supports for the spring frames at theirmeeting edges, but the offset arrangement of the ends arranges the barsa sufficient distance below the spring that the person resting thereonwill not come in contact with such bars and be inconvenienced thereby.

It will be readily understood from this description that theconstruction of device is extremely simple and that the operation is notcomplicated by any arrangement of levers and rods of various lengths andkinds, but the spring frame is merely swung temporarily from its normalposition upon its end pivots, turning it over to an inverted positionwhere it is arrested by the stops 21 to allow of the tween the end andside panels 23 and 24 and the outer section is closed down and latchedby the latch arm 19. The closed frame is then swung back and locked bymeans of the end lugs 21 and locking dogs 22 when it may be again usedas a couch.

It will be noted that the construction is such that the pivotallymounted section occupies the same position relative to the rigid framewhen the other frame is extended in bed form or when it is folded incouch form and its position is altered only temporarily when swung topermit the opening of the other frame section and removal of thebedding.

What I claim as my invention is: i

1. A folding couch, comprising the combination with a pair of metal endsformed of an inverted U shape and longitudinal bars supporting andspacing said ends and connected to the sides thereof intermediate oftheir height, of a couch seat frame pivotally connected at the ends tothe intermediate top portion of the inverted U-shaped members, asupplementary bed frame pivotally connected to one of the freelongitudinal;

sides of the couch seat frame and adapted to swing thereunder springscarried by said respective frames, means for locking said hinged framestogether in substantially parallelly spaced relation whereby they mayswing as a unit on the pivotal connection of said seat frame, and meanspermanently associated with one of said frames forming with the springsof the respective frames an enclosure for receiving and retaining bed-Yremoval of the beddng from the pocket ding, said locked frames beingadapted to be swung in unison a half revolution in one direction topermit removal of the bedding whereupon the firstmentioned frame isadapted to be returned to its normal position while the other frame isswung on the frameconnecting pivots to an extended position inhorizontal alignment with said normally positioned first-mentionedframe.

2. A folding couch, comprising a rigid frame having means by which itsends are spaced apart, a couch frame formed of two end bars pivotallymounted intermediate of their length on the end of the rigid frame, onepair of ends of said end bars being connected by a straight rigid barand the other ends being connected by a rigid bar with oflset ends, aspring extending between the end bars and clearing the longitudinalportion of the bar with the offset ends, a pair of offset bracketmembers secured to the ends of the couch frame adjacent to the bar withthe offset ends, a longitudinal bar having offset ends pivotally mountedon said bracket members, and a rigid couch frame secured to the latterpivotally mounted bar and supporting a mattress spring.

8. A folding couch, comprising a rigid frame having means by which itsends are spaced apart, a frame pivotally supported on the ends of theaforesaid frame and adapted to swing thereon, side and end panelssecured to said frame forming an enclosure, and a frame pivotallyconnected to said pivotal frame and adapted to swing under said pivotalframe and to be extended therefrom, said frames having spring elementsforming with said side and end panels a compartment for housing thebedding.

4. A folding couch, comprising a rigid frame having means by which itsends are spaced apart, a frame having its ends pivotally mountedcentrally of the ends of the rigid frame and adapted to be rotatedthereon and carrying a spring, panels secured to said frame and formingwith said spring the sides and ends of an open compartment into whichthe bedding is adapted to be packed, a frame pivotally secured to oneedge of the rotatable frame, said pivotally secured frame having aspring adapted to co-operate with said panels to close the compartment,and means for locking said latter frame with its spring in position toclose said compartment to retain the bedding packed therein.

5. A folding couch, comprising a pair of spring frames having theiradjacent side bars offset downwardly, ofiset pivotal connectionssecuring said frames together, side and end panels secured to one ofsaid frames forming an enclosure between said spring frames when swungtogether, a latch member pivotally connected to the opening side of oneof said frames exterior to the side

